Drenched
by Karakuri1925
Summary: Eridan Ampora and Karkat Vantas are only two of many students at Alternia High School, an integrated high school with both trolls and humans. But Karkat finds out something about Eridan and his father the swim coach that he wishes he never knew. Rated T for Karkat being Karkat. KarkatXEridan
1. Chapter 1

I hopped out of the pool and stared at the Aquarius who was sitting on the bench. Said Aquarius never went in the pool, if he could avoid it. If he did, he had a t-shirt on. I couldn't imagine why. I never saw much movement of the shirt, even though Eridan's gills were on his sides. Eridan had to come up for air, albeit not as much, but still. Feferi could swim laps around the pool and never once come up for air. She and Meenah would have conversations while they were lapping, and get out of the pool laughing about something nobody heard.

But that's not what we're focused on.

Eridan looked at his dad, the swim coach. His dad was giving him the "get the fuck in the goddamn pool" look. Eridan swore to himself and stood up. He walked into the locker rooms and walked back out in his swim trunks. His dad nodded at him and he dove into the pool. I swam over to him and watched him freestyle over to the shallower end like he always did. I followed him.

"No fucking shirt today?"

Eridan crossed his arms. "I didn't think you'd be swwimmin' this mornin', Vantas."

It was then I noticed. Eridan's gills didn't look like Meenah's or Feferi's. Eridan had long lines going down his sides that looked like where his skin was stretched out. His gills had the lines in them too, but where the lines were, instead of looking stretched, his gills were closed. I understood why he had to go up for air. I understood why his shirt almost never moved when he was swimming. I understood why he hung out in the shallow end. His gills weren't right. He got out of the pool and walked over to his dad. He opened his mouth to say something. Eridan's dad grabbed him by his sides and launched him into the deep end. I saw bubbles come flying up and then nothing. I also saw a huge cloud of purple come up through the water. I swore and launched myself over to the deep end. I opened my eyes underwater, not caring if my colored contacts came out. I saw Eridan holding his sides, coughing and choking. Blood was coming out of his gills, along with bubbles. I hooked my arms around him and pulled him toward the surface. He kicked me and got away. His sides had stopped bleeding and there was an unsteady stream of bubbles coming from him.

"It always happens when he does that." Eridan's voice came out garbled slightly by the lack of air he and I both had.

We kicked up to the surface. Eridan gasped and spluttered when we got to the surface. He sounded like he was choking. I looked at him. He just shook his head and got out of the pool. His father walked over to where he was and grabbed his wrist so hard Eridan winced. There was a steady stream of purple coming from his malformed gills. His dad turned his wrist over and got in his face to whisper something to Eridan. Eridan shook his head and said something back. His dad viciously jabbed two fingers into Eridan's side and he hissed. He probably would have collapsed sideways but his dad was holding him up by his wrist.

"Disgraceful, mutated, idiotic child. Get in the pool and swim before I get back." His dad said, spitting on Eridan before launching him into the pool and walking out.

Eridan hit the water with a loud splashing sound and slowly floated, face-up, to the surface of the pool. His gills weren't moving, but his chest was heaving in an attempt to get air. His eyes were shut and his mouth was slightly open. His gills were sealed shut. I pulled him to the side of the pool and pushed him up on the wall. His gills unsealed and his eyes opened. He retched sideways, coughing and spluttering. The properly formed gills on the sides of his neck were fluttering furiously, trying to get more air. I hopped out of the pool and put my hands on his shoulders.

"Can't… Breathe…" Eridan wheezed.

_Fuck. Fuck shit goddamn fuck. _Eridan had his hands on his throat, trying to close his gills.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"Gills… water… normal lungs…. Land."

I didn't understand but put my hands on his sides. If he was closing his gills, he was going to need four hands. My finger accidently skimmed the inside of his gills and he yelped.

"Sorry! It was an fucking accident, I didn't fucking mean to-"

"Shut up…" Eridan's face was slowly turning purple.

I pressed gently with the palms of my hands and I felt his gills flutter and start sealing shut beneath my hands. Once his gills were totally sealed, Eridan fell backward. His eyes were shut and his face was slowly turning gray again. His chest was heaving. _Fuckass sea dweller…_ I shook his shoulders and his eyes opened. He pushed me away and sat up. He looked exhausted, and we still had a full day of school ahead of us.

"Thanks, Kar…"

"Why does that fuckass do that? He's your dad for fuck's sake!"

Eridan's face fell and the look in his eyes could only be described as abandoned. "He w-wanted a son w-who could live his dream of being an Olympic sw-swimmer for him. W-When my mom had me, he thought I w-would be able to."

"What the hell happened to your fucking gills?"

"W-When I w-was little, my mom and I got into a car crash. My mom died and I ended up in the hospital. Pieces of the w-windshield w-went through my sides and they had to seal my gills partially."

"So your dad fucking hates you for something you couldn't fucking control?"

"No. He hates me because I don't let him w-walk all ov-ver me like he thinks he should."


	2. Chapter 2

After Eridan and I got changed, I helped him get to the nurse. When she asked what happened, Eridan just said that he couldn't breathe earlier and asked to lie down. She nodded and we both exchanged a glance. _I can't tell anybody about Eridan's gills or his father… _I had first period with Sollux, Eridan, and Nepeta. It was a science class. I flopped into my seat next to Sollux, my hair still a little drippy from the pool. Sollux stared at me then pointed to the empty seat next to me. _That fucker is wondering where the hell Eridan is…_

"He went to the nurse."

"Already? That douthebag."

"I had to fucking walk him there. He could barely fucking stand the hell up."

"Oh jethuth. That thoundth pretty bad. What wath wrong?"

"He couldn't fucking breathe this morning when we were swimming. His dad left so we got out of the damn pool and he just… collapsed, I guess."

Sollux looked worried. Nepeta and I passed notes about it through the entire class. We never got caught because the teachers didn't give a damn. Eridan walked into class with ten minutes left in the period, handed the teacher a pass, and sat down. His hair was still dripping wet and his face was a little purple. Sollux waved and he waved back. Nepeta pat his back carefully, as if knowing about Eridan's gills. She gave him a concerned, questioning glance and Eridan nodded. Nepeta shook her head and went back to doodling cats all over her paper. When the science teacher, Dirk Strider, passed our table, he just looked at Eridan. Eridan kept his head down and said nothing. The bell rang and we got out of that room as fast as we could. Eridan walked out a few minutes after Sollux, Nepeta, and I. His face was pale and he coughed into his elbow. Nepeta looped her arm around his shoulders and dragged him back to the nurse. She was late for math second period, which, coincidentally, I had with her, Sollux, Equius, and Terezi.

"Ith Eridan okay?" Sollux sounded almost… concerned.

"His sister picked him up from school and is driving him to the hospital. The second we got to the nurse his gills started flaring and he started suffocating…" Nepeta purred, her face drooping at the end .

"Eridan's going to the hospital? Looks like he's finally dealing with his anorexia nervosa." Terezi cackled quietly.

"Eridan's anorexic?" Equius questioned.

"Yes, but he wanted you to keep your paws over your mouth about that, Terezi!"

"Is he fucking okay, though?"

"The nurse said he should be purr-fect by tomorrow."

The rest of the school day was a blur to me. After the last period, Nepeta, Terezi, and Sollux got in my car and we drove to the hospital. I ran towards Eridan's room, the others meandered, stopping in to say hi to people they knew. I opened the door and saw Feferi, Eridan's older sister, sitting down. I nodded. Before she stood up, she looked at Eridan. He had tubes running from the sides of his neck, and I could see them pumping droplets water out of his lungs. Eridan had little wires sticking out of him and an IV drip that was dripping away. He was also unconscious.

"He just started suffocating, right there, and I didn't know what to do… The nurse said somefin to him and he fed her some carp about having somefin stuck in his gills… Oh my cod! Kar, what if he dies? What if he doesn't make it and it's all my fault because I could've done something about our blowfish of a father-"

"Feferi, calm your shit. Eridan's going to be fucking fine."

Feferi had tears streaming down her face. I handed her some tissues from the box behind me and she just buried her face in her hands. We both sat down and Nepeta, Terezi, and Sollux came in quietly. "Ith he going to be okay?" Sollux's voice waivered a bit. Nepeta just sat on the floor and put a card on Eridan's bed.

"What does he look like? I don't feel like getting that close to Eridan, conscious or not, since he could just be crazy sick. Besides, the room just smells like white." Terezi muttered in my ear.

I described what Eridan looked like and she nodded. Sollux sat on the floor and Terezi leaned up against the wall. Feferi was crying into her hands. Meenah came crashing into the room, her trident clutched in her hand. She had a skirt full of scamper, a head full of angry red smoke, and I'll be damned if she wasn't pissed off at Eridan. But her anger wasn't the kind of anger that was inflicted at someone. It was the kind of anger that was really just sadness. Meenah captchalogged her trident in her strife specibus and sat next to Meenah, her hands over her shoulders.

"Hey krillfriend, calm down, I'm sure he'll be up and swimming again soon."

Eridan's eyes opened and he put his hand up to his neck. His eyes widened when he felt the tubes and they slowly filled with blood. Doctors came running in and turned morphine dials. Eridan's eyes closed again. They carefully pulled the tubes out of his gills and left. Meenah took Feferi, Nepeta, Sollux, and Terezi home. I waited for Eridan to wake up again. When he did, his gills flared a little bit then sealed themselves again.

"Hey."

"Kar? W-where's Fef?"

"She went back to your fucking hive."

Eridan sighed a little, choking on the air around him before staring at the ceiling.

"What the fuck happened?"

"I don't know-w, Kar. If I did, I w-wouldn't be here."

_The douchebag has a point._ "What is your dad going to-" I didn't have time to finish my sentence because his father came crashing into the hospital room, drunk and in a blind rage.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? I'm not paying this hospital bill, boy, so you can figure out how to do that on your own. Oh, and Vantas, keep your landdweller hands away from my son, you got that?" Mr. Ampora slurred.

Eridan sat up. "Dad, get the sw-swimming fuck out of here!" He snapped.

I'd never seen Eridan so angry. His knuckles were white and clenched, and his chest was heaving. There was an angry purple flush on his face. His dad grabbed him by the neck, his fingers digging into Eridan's gills. Eridan hissed and I saw his malformed gills flutter, which was probably what kept him alive. His dad lifted him against the wall, using one hand to keep him there and the other hand to turn his head. I didn't hear what he said, but by Eridan's reaction I could tell that it wasn't good. There was purple blood coming out of the corners of Eridan's mouth, and even more coming from his gills. When he let go of Eridan, the sea dweller just crumpled to the floor and unsealed his gills.


	3. Chapter 3

There was purple bruising around his neck and his gills were bleeding. Eridan sucked in air. I just sat and watched his father loom over him before standing up. I had had enough.

"Coach Ampora, get the fuck away from him."

"You think you scare me, shrimp?"

"I should." I pulled out my sickles and stood between Coach Ampora and Eridan.

Coach Ampora just walked out. I captchalogged my sickles and went to help Eridan get up. He pushed my hand away and stood up by himself. He wavered and then almost crashed into me. I looped both arms around his waist and helped the moronic sea dweller into his hospital bed. He winced and I flinched. His face was still light purple and his gills were fluttering, speckling the sheets and Eridan with little purple droplets of blood. I grabbed the blanket and used it to wipe some of the blood off of his face. He laughed and blood stopped flying out of his gills.

"Thanks, Kar."

"I didn't do anything."

"Yeah, you did. You helped me w-with my dad. Ev-Even Fef can't help me w-with him."

I frowned. _Is his dad really that bad?_ Eridan's face was still that light purple but he looked like he would be fine. I sat in the seat next to him and heard his older brother, Cronus, come barreling down the halls. Cronus was a douchebag, but he cared about Eridan. Well, he cared enough to not almost kill him. Cronus was the lackey of his father, and would probably turn out the same way.

What the fuck ever.

Cronus kicked the door open.

"V-what the hell v-were you thinkin?! Dad coulda killed you!"

"Yes Cronus because I hav-ve so much control ov-ver his actions!" Eridan snapped, his voice hoarse and gravelly.

Cronus looked outraged. "If my brother v-wasn't so crippled nothing v-woulda happened! You v-would ha-w-ve been fine!" Cronus snapped.

He always had a short temper. I stood up, glared at Cronus, and kicked him. He skidded into the door.

"Don't. You. Fucking. Dare. Don't you fucking dare bring that up! It's not his goddamn fault, so just fucking leave him alone!"

Cronus laughed, stood up, and left. Eridan's face was hidden behind his hands. His shoulders were shaking. I heard soft whimpering noises.

"Eridan?'

He just shook his head. "He has a point."

My eyes opened wide. "No. No, he fucking doesn't! He doesn't have any fucking reason to say shit like that-"

Eridan had purple streaks going down his face when he looked at me.

"Doesn't hav-ve any reason to say that? I find that hard to believ-ve."

I wrapped an arm around Eridan's shoulders. He froze for a second. His glasses were cracked so I just took them off. I put them on the table next to his bed. Eridan's ribs stuck out against my side. I traced the deep welts between them.

"You don't eat jack shit, do you?"

"My dad had me sw-swimming all the time. There nev-never w-was any time for anything other than that."

I felt Eridan breathing. He rested his head on my shoulder and I frowned. _Sweet mother grub's oozing vestigial third oral sphincter he's going to starve himself at this rate. _I felt him coughing and lay him back down.

"Fuckass."

Eridan laughed. His eyes slid shut and I called for doctors. Eridan's gills were working furiously and his chest wasn't moving. Two trolls dressed in hospital gear- one of them was my brother, Kankri- threw open the doors. Kankri held Eridan's shoulders while the other troll attached something to Eridan's gills. As they were walking out, Kankri put a hand on my shoulder and tugged awkwardly at his turtle neck collar.

"Karkat, I don't wish to alarm or trigger you by the use of inappropriate language, nor do I-"

"Cut to the goddamn chase Kankri or I will flip my shit."

"He's probably going to die-"

"He won't."

"He might."

_Eridan can't die._ Something I had learned from watching romcoms: the love interest never dies unless the person who finds them attractive believes that they're going to die. _Wait. Love interest? What the fuck!? Whatever. Worry about that later. _There were tanks filled with water attached over Eridan's gills. The idiot had almost suffocated. Fef came in and sat next to me. She looked at Eridan, as if waiting for him to wake up and yell "GOTCHA!"

"Hey, Feferi-"

"Don't, Karkat. Just glubbing don't."

"Kankri told you, then."

"I just finished listening to his speech, yes."

I didn't say anything, I just nodded and looked at Eridan. Bubbles were streaming out of his gills and into the water. I could've sworn I heard a faint wheezing noise coming from him but I chose to ignore it. Fef had tears streaming down her face. Vriska walked in, dumped a card on the bed, turned on her heel, kicked me with it, and walked out. I watched Eridan's face pale and Fef stood up. She walked out after Vriska and I heard her just sobbing in the hallway. I scooted my chair closer to Eridan and held his almost deathly cold hands. The only thing that even said he was alive was the heart monitor. The bubbles that were streaming out of his gills were so small I could barely see them.

_**Karkat = be the dying sea dweller.**_

Everything hurt. It felt like someone was holding a match inside my lungs and burning them from the inside out. I could feel my consciousness slowly ebbing away. I felt Kar's hands on mine. I heard Fef crying. My arms felt like lead and my eyelids wouldn't open. I thought I was blind. I couldn't open my mouth, so I felt mute.

Everything was dark.

I felt alone.

After what felt like seconds, I woke up. Kar wasn't at my side anymore. I opened my eyes and confirmed that fact. I was also acutely aware of the fact that I was trapped in a tank of water. Kar was sitting- or, rather, laying- on the floor, asleep. I tapped the glass. Kar woke up, then immediately rubbed his eyes and did a double-take.

"You're… You're awake."

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Kar tilted his head and pointed to his ears, shaking his head. _He can't hear me._ I put my hand on the glass. Kar flattened his hand and I saw candy red tears falling down his face. I heard doctors rush in and I hit the other side of the tank. Fef was right behind them. She looked terrified.

"Help!" I started screaming.

I could feel the water heating up, and then my blood felt like it was boiling. Fef looked at Cronus, said something, then he replied, and looked back at me. Her eyes told me everything.

They were giving up on me.

The water felt like it was boiling. The gills on my sides unstuck themselves completely for the first time in what felt like years and, well, it had been years. I could feel congealed blood come free and fly off but I was too busy staring at Kar and trying not to pass out. His hand was still on the glass, even though the glass was as hot as the water and his hand was probably burning. I put my hand on his and let myself go.

Everything went black.

_**Eridan = stop being an unconscious idiot and be the mutant troll.**_

_While Eridan doesn't appreciate being spoken to like that, what the fuck ever._

_He no longer cares._

_**Karkat = wait for Eridan to wake up.**_

Damn I waited a long time. Feferi had told me that she was going to let them pull his life support soon. He wasn't waking up. As it was, Eridan was stuck inside of a tank of water. He had wires and tubes coming out of him from everywhere. He looked like some sort of science experiment.

Then, he woke up.

And then, well, they pulled his life support.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" I heard Meenah outside, yelling at doctors and surgeons who had worked on Eridan's gills before.

Once they figured out he was awake, they quickly lowered the water temperature to the freezing it was before. But, Eridan's mutilated gills were free and, though they looked like scar tissue, he could breathe. I didn't care about anything else. However, when his eyes closed again, they pulled him out of the tank, stuck him on a gurney, and sent him immediately into the OR.

I ended up sitting with Feferi, who was crying again. She'd had a hard couple of years, especially since her dad basically kicked her out. He said that he had one son, and that was his only child. Eridan was dead to him, and Feferi was just some troll. Cronus still visited Eridan sometimes, but mostly it was just Feferi, Meenah, and I who visited him. Well, I practically lived at the hospital. But it didn't matter.

Eridan was going to be okay.

He had to be.

He just…

He had to be.


End file.
